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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24837286">Airglow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rapis_Razuri/pseuds/Rapis_Razuri'>Rapis_Razuri</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Father's Day, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Married Couple, Mental Health Issues, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:20:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,007</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24837286</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rapis_Razuri/pseuds/Rapis_Razuri</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dimitri contemplates his incoming fatherhood.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>179</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>FE3H: after S support - Dimileth</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Airglow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> This was something he never wanted to see again. A field of broken swords and lingering regret. Drenched in the blood of the slain and choking from smoke, he could do little but stumble over one corpse after another, barely able to see anything, half-blind from his own tears and clinging uselessly to a weapon he could not recognize. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> In the end, it had all been for naught. His soft-hearted ideals saved no one, his vow to repair a broken kingdom amounting to little more than pretty words on the wind. He could only watch as Fódlan was once again consumed by war, innocents paying the price of his arrogance. All of this was his fault. All because he had survived. Why him? Why not someone who could have saved them? </em>
</p><p>Waking up was the first desperate breath of air after sinking into frigid waters.</p><p>Closing his eyes in relief even as the cacophony of his ghosts rang loud and shrill in his ears, Dimitri allowed his body to fall slack. <em> Just a nightmare, </em> he reminded himself. <em> None of it was real. </em> No, the new nightmares that plagued him in place of the old were not unfounded. Yes, their world was in a fragile place as it healed, little by little, but it would not happen overnight. Fódlan will become stronger in time, tempered by the hardship it endured. He mustn't risk that by trying to hasten the process solely to ease his own fears. <em> One day at a time. </em> </p><p>Beside him, Byleth slept on. It was a small relief he focused on as he gathered his bearings. His beloved never begrudged being awoken by him in the middle of the night, but he would rather she try to get as much rest as she could. These were more trying times for her than they were for him after all.</p><p>But the selfish man that he was, Dimitri cuddled against her anyway, taking deep breaths as he waited for the voices to quieten. His demons were and ever will be his to fight, but having her by his side like this was always a solace. Something to hold onto when the darkness threatened to suffocate his will to live.</p><p>Almost on its own, his hand moved down the curves of her body, coming to a rest upon her stomach. His nightmares seemed to have increased in frequency as of late and were much more vivid than usual. He wondered if it had anything to do with her current condition. </p><p>No sooner than the thought crossed his mind, Dimitri felt a kick. The impact was close to nothing, but the ripples it created in this troubled mind were that of a stone thrown into still water. Ever careful not to disturb Byleth, he ducked beneath the covers—an action that brought back fond memories of the time Glenn built him and Felix a blanket fort—until his lips were a hair's breadth away from her swollen belly.</p><p>“You can’t sleep either, can you?” He found himself saying despite, as always, feeling utterly ridiculous for talking to his wife’s midsection. It was unlikely the child she carried could even hear, let alone understand, what he was saying. “Well, that’s alright for now. Unfortunately when you are born, you will have to have a bedtime like any other child.”</p><p>Another kick. Like the baby was expressing its dissatisfaction with such an arrangement. Dimitri chuckled softly. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the most difficult thing he ever had to worry about was trying to get a stubborn, petulant child to go to sleep at a designated time?</p><p>
  <em> I wonder which would be more difficult, getting a stubborn, petulant child to go to bed or persuading the nobles that the Crestless are as valuable and had as much to offer as the Crest-bearers? </em>
</p><p>The thought was amusing if nothing else. He was aware of the duties that came with his privileges, such as the expectation that he and Byleth would have children. Or rather, the expectation was that they would have <em> heirs </em>. Preferably one with a Crest. <span>Dimitri never balked in the face of duty, whatever they were, but he still had enough of a rebellious streak to know when and where to draw the line.</span></p><p>Crest or no Crest, Dimitri had every intention of making his firstborn his successor—for what better way was there than to lead by example?—but regardless of the political implications it may have, it didn’t change the fact that this was really happening. A part of him was still having trouble wrapping his head around it. He was going to have a family with her. In a few more months, there was going to be a delicate new life in the world, a life they were to cherish and nurture and one day entrust the future to.</p><p>The anticipation was exciting and agitating all at once. It wasn’t as though he had no models to follow. It’s been ten years, but Dimitri could still remember the last happy memory he had of his father, how he had affectionately ruffled Dimitri’s hair and gotten down to one knee to assure him that everything would be alright. After the Tragedy, there had been Lord Rodrigue, who was always ready to offer parental advice and support to a boy who had lost both.</p><p>But Dimitri had to wonder, unlike his father, unlike Rodrigue, was someone like him fit to raise a child? </p><p>It would’ve been understandable—maybe even expected—for him to leave the raising of his children to nurses and attendants. Dimitri was not the ruler of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, but that of the entire continent of Fódlan. Such a prodigious title came with a great deal of responsibilities. Responsibilities that would most certainly interfere with his ability to spend time with his family.</p><p>But Dimitri also knew how incredibly <em> lucky </em>he was. When he had once lost everything, once thrown everything that mattered to the wayside in the name of revenge, he vowed to never take anything for granted ever again. He counted his blessings, however small they were. Every single one.</p><p> “I hope I don’t let you down,” he whispered. A promise phrased as a wish. “And I hope… you take after your mother.” <em> Her strength, her kindness, and none of my… </em> Dimitri closed his eyes and snuggled closer. <em> You will find out one day. That your father had been an one-eyed demon before he was ever the so-called Savior King. </em></p><p>...Was he honestly considering the possibility that his own child may one day despise him?  Self-loathing was not a tumor that was easily cut away, he supposed, but it also meant there was all the more reason to do better. To <em> be </em>better. The kind of the hero and role-model his child deserved and could look up to without shame. And then maybe his story could become the source of a valuable lesson that he himself did not learn until it was almost too late. A penchant for madness was not something Dimitri wanted to pass on to any child.</p><p>That was when he felt her stir and out of a habit of her own, she began to run her fingers through his hair. Once, twice, over and over and over… He never told anyone the reason he kept his hair long after the war was because he loved it when she did that. It was very soothing. </p><p>The darkness around him now was the exact opposite of the earlier sort. Warm. Tranquil. Secure. He indulged himself for a few seconds before lifting his head and crawling back out. “Did I wake you?” Dimitri asked after pressing a kiss against her cheek. </p><p>“Either you or the baby,” she replied. “You were talking to them again, weren’t you?”</p><p><em> “Again”? </em>He blushed. It appears he had not been as discreet as he thought. “Is that alright with you?” He had no desire to make her uncomfortable.</p><p>“I think it’s sweet.” Byleth blinked once like a contented cat and added, as though she was making a statement about the weather, “You’re going to be a wonderful father.” </p><p><em> Will I? </em>But her certainty in this belief warmed his heart. “You have too much faith in me,” Dimitri half-teased. </p><p>“I have<em> just enough </em> faith in you,” she corrected before shifting to a gentler tone as she addressed what was truly her concern. “Is something troubling you? Do you want to talk?”</p><p>“Only the ghosts, my beloved.” The last thing he wanted to do was jeopardize her health, but he knew there was a point where being honest with her would relieve more stress than it would cause. “Only the ghosts.”</p><p>“They speak only of your shortcomings,” she said curtly, sounding as though she would be giving those who haunted him a stern talking-to if she had the ability to do so. “You are worth more than the weight of your sins, my love.”</p><p>He thought of his father watching him at his coronation, those stern eyes that not even her most mesmerizing of smiles could shield him from when she placed the crown upon his head. <em> I have high hopes for you, my son. Do not let me down. </em> Of Glenn, seething in rage and envy as he sat among the guests at their wedding. <em> Why was I denied this, Dimitri? Where is the justice? </em> Of his stepmother, hissing spitefully when Byleth, glowing in a way only she could, told him she was expecting. <em>You will finally understand why I did what I did. </em></p><p>Dimitri pushed those memories aside. “Do you really think I will make a good father?”</p><p>She placed her hands on either side of his head, guiding him forward so she could bump their foreheads together. “I remember the monastery orphans,” she whispered as though sharing a great secret. “You were so earnest in your desire to teach them. Patient with their mistakes. Sincere in your praise. When they lashed out at you, you understood their anger and their trauma and didn’t blame them for it. Is there a reason for me to think you would give your own child anything less?”</p><p>“Never.”</p><p>“See?” Byleth kissed him once before continuing, “I never thought you were perfect. Just as I don’t believe myself infallible. We are <em> both </em>going to make mistakes with this child, I think, but we’ll do our best and we’ll learn from those mistakes together. Side by side, as we always have. Okay?”</p><p>Accepting imperfection was more comforting than false assurances. Ever careful of the baby, Dimitri pulled her closer to him and she tucked her head in the hollow of his throat. Her voice was louder than the dead’s. It always had been. Marriage and fatherhood were never going to be easy matters for him, but with Byleth, he knew there would always be a small quiet place in their world where he <em> could </em>simply be a father to their child and not a sovereign to his heir. </p><p>“Byleth?” </p><p>“Yes, Dimitri?”</p><p><em> Thank you. Thank you for never taking back your kind hand. </em> “I love you.” </p><p>There was a pause before she answered with a soft smile in her voice. “I love you too.”</p><p>Calm finally began to take hold as he once again buried his nose into her hair. His wife in his arms and their child nestled safely between them. Sometimes he feared that this was all too good to be true, that one day he was going to wake up and realize everything in the past six years had been a dying dream he was having as he bled out somewhere alone.</p><p>He never thought it would be possible for him to be this happy. He did not deserve it, but this was not simply a matter of what he did or did not deserve, was it?</p><p><em> Husband. Father. </em> Simpler titles than <em> Your Majesty </em> and yet, all the more precious for it. <em> Live for what you believe in. </em> Dimitri smiled. <em> I am, </em> he thought in reply. <em> I truly am. </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Dad!Dimitri makes me so happy guys, I cannot stress this enough. Happy Father’s Day!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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